Page 142 of Make Us Yours
“Ma’am, please, I’m going to ask you to calm down. He—”
“What are you doing here, Courtney?” Gabe asks as we step closer to the deranged-looking woman.
She whips around, greasy long blonde hair almost slapping her in the face as she swivels. “Finally!” She flaps her arms at her sides, then takes quick, hurried steps toward us.
“I asked you a question.” Gabe stops a few feet away from her, holding my hand.
She comes up even closer, looking up at him from her short height. Gabe clearly gets his height from someone else. “Is that any way to speak to your mother!?”
His jaw ticks, but he stays calm. “You aren’t my mother.”
“Bullshit!” she spits with anger in her eyes. “I fucking carried you for ninegod-awful months. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be here!” She points a finger in his face, and on instinct, I slap it away.
“Don’t fucking touch him.”
Her intoxicated eyes turn to me with clear disgust, a reddish tint over the sclera, and fully dilated pupils. Clearly high. “Who the hell is this tramp?” Her gaze turns back to Gabe. “Isshethe reason you’ve been ignoring us? You always did act like a wimp for every woman who spread her legs.”
Oh, I am about to lose it on this woman!I take a step closer, but Gabe puts his arm to stop me. “That’s enough. Either you tell me why you’re here or get the fuck out.”
She fists her hands at her sides, nostrils flaring. She sniffs and lifts her hand to wipe her nose, then looks from side to side like a paranoid woman who’s being watched. “They took your father. I don’t know where he is,” she whispers harshly.
Gabe frowns but with little care.Good, they don’t deserve his pity.“Who?”
“The people we owe money to! Who else do you think, stupid boy!” she hisses.
“Watch your tone because I’m seconds away from slapping you,” I growl like a lioness protecting her king.
“Don’t fucking talk to me, little girl! You have no place here,” she says, trying to sound threatening, but it comes out anything but.
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you’re here,” Gabe says, trying to defuse the tension. A clear reminder that he doesn’t like altercations, at least not the ones involving him.
“It’s your fault they came to get him! If you had just sent us the money you owe us, we wouldn’t be in this mess! I couldn’t stay there. I had to get out before they came back for me.”
“And you thought by showing your face here, I’d give it to you?” He scoffs.
“YOU FUCKING OWE US!”
He takes a step closer to her, and she instantly cowers. “I don’t owe you shit!” he says through clenched teeth, then takes a step back. “We’re done here. Get out and don’t come back.” He turns his back to her, still holding my hand, and walks us toward the elevators.
“I’m going to make you fucking pay for this! You’ll see! I should have fucking killed you the moment I found out about you!”
My patience snaps. I rip my hand out of Gabe’s, turn and march over to her so quickly, she doesn’t have time to react. Pulling my fist back, I smash it against her face, feeling something crack from the powerful punch. I bring my fist to my chest, cradling it, then shaking it out with a hiss.
Courtney stumbles back with a scream, falling to the floor as she clutches herface with both hands, blood already pissing from her nose. “YOU BITCH! YOU BROKE MY NOSE!”
“Threaten him again, and it won’t just be your nose,” I snarl above her.
“So you can threaten me, but I can’t?!” She wipes the blood away from her face with a glare, spreading it everywhere.
“Oh, hun, that wasn’t a threat. It was a promise.” I smile wickedly and turn around to find Gabe smiling proudly at me a few steps away. I reach him, taking his hand with my uninjured one, and kiss him passionately.
When we pull apart, he looks over to the front desk, where Antoine stands a little shocked, yet holds a small, satisfied smile. “If she doesn’t leave on her own within the next two minutes, call the cops. I’m sure they’ll be happy to pick her up.”
We head into our elevator and jump each other like wild animals the second the doors close. Once in the penthouse, our clothes leave a trail from the foyer to the couch, where Gabe lays me down and fucks me with fierce passion into oblivion.
Two hours later, when the movie we’re watching ends, Gabe yawns and looks at his phone. I lift my head from his shoulder and kiss his cheek. “You can go to bed if you’re tired. It’s okay.”
“Are you sure? I’ll admit that after the events in the lobby, I’m a little beat. But I can wait up a little longer with you.” He cups my cheek, stroking it with his thumb.
